Obama renews push on immigration reform

3/27/13 6:30 PM EDT

President Obama sought to refocus the political conversation on immigration reform Wednesday in interviews with two Spanish-language networks that come after weeks of news cycles dominated by discussions of guns, sequestration and same-sex marriage.

In interviews with Telemundo and Univision conducted Wednesday at the White House, the president stayed firm on the immigration reform timeline he set earlier this year and voiced confidence in the bipartisan group of eight senators who are negotiating a bill.

“I think we’ve seen enormous progress over the last month and a half,” Obama said in an interview with Telemundo. “I think both sides, Democrats and Republicans, have been very serious about the negotiations. I’m actually very optimistic that when they return in early April … we’ll see a bill ready to move through the process.”

"We're seeing right now a good, bipartisan spirit. I want to encourage that," he added on Univision. "Hopefully we'll be able to get it done."

The president is still holding lawmakers to the same timeline he laid out in late January, when he last sat for interviews on immigration reform. “If we have a bill introduced at the beginning of next month — as these senators indicate it will be — then I’m confident that we can get it done certainly before the end of the summer.”

Obama often chides Congress for being unproductive, but on immigration he still seems hopeful that the bipartisan cooperation of which he has long waxed poetic will finally come to fruition. “The most important thing is that we’re seeing a strong commitment to finally solve this problem in a way that strengthens our border security, makes sure that there’s a pathway to citizenship, an earned one, a tough one, but a pathway so that people can live out their dreams and make sure that they have a better life for themselves and their kids," he said.

He also reiterated that he has the option of rolling out his own bill, telling Telemundo: "I've got my own legislation, I'm prepared to step in, but I don't think that's going to be necessary."

Nor would Obama flirt with the notion that the Senate bill might fail. “I’m not gonna presuppose failure,” he told Telemundo. “I don’t know why you keep on asking about failure, ‘cause I think this is gonna succeed. And I’m not concerned about the Democratic Party, I’m concerned about the people whose actual lives are gonna be impacted by it. And I want to make sure that they have the capacity to move forward and live out the dream of immigrants that has driven this country for so many years. I think it’s good for our economy. I think it’ll be good for these families. That’s my number-one priority.”